Kukla's Korner Hockey

In dealing for Vesa Toskala Friday, Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson admitted that Andrew Raycroft, his draft-day acquisition at the 2006 entry draft, hasn’t panned out as he had hoped. A natural-born pessimist might fault Ferguson for that, while an optimist might at least give him credit for not stubbornly sticking by his alleged No. 1.
But Ferguson’s insistence on signing Toskala to a contract extension makes no sense whatsoever.

Veteran forwards Gary Roberts and Mark Recchi have agreed to terms on one-year contracts with the Pittsburgh Penguins, sources tell TSN.
Both players were scheduled to become free agents on July 1.
Amid reports that both the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs would pursue Roberts heavily, Roberts agreed to a deal worth $2.5 million.
Recchi’s deal is worth $2 million against the salary cap and includes bonus provisions to get to that amount.

Chicago defenceman Adrian Aucoin has agreed to waive his no trade clause to permit a deal to the Calgary Flames along with a seventh-round pick in 2007.
In exchange, the Flames will send defenseman Andrei Zyuzin and prospect Steve Marr to the Blackhawks.

The Oilers and Flyers could be trying to land a big one before tonight’s NHL draft.
League sources say both teams may have made calls to Devils GM Lou Lamoriello about acquiring the negotiating rights to centre Scott Gomez, who will become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
It’s believed the Oilers, who have three first-round picks, can offer the most attractive package to the Devils.

Wild president and general manager Doug Risebrough was holed up in his hotel room with the phone to his ear trying to work out a deal that likely would alter the team’s position in tonight’s first round, set for 6 p.m. at Nationwide Arena.
“Nothing is imminent,” Risebrough said Thursday night. “I’m waiting for calls back. Whether it materializes or not, I don’t know.”
Though Risebrough would not specify the components of the deal, it was easy to speculate the impending end of the Manny Fernandez Era, which bore two postseason berths and a surfeit of turmoil, some real and some imagined.

Heading into today’s first round of the NHL Draft, the Minnesota Wild are still picking gravel out of their teeth after being bulldozed by Anaheim in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
With two of the best defensemen in the game and a group of big, skilled forwards that relentlessly stormed the net, the Ducks rolled past Minnesota in five games and only lost four more en route to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.
With that in mind, the Wild will be looking to emulate Anaheim’s blueprint for success. After qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2003, the Wild own six picks in this year’s draft, including the 19th selection in the first round.

Lang is 36, and that’s likely the beginning of the end for him as a top-tier center in the NHL, but he likely can still be an effective power-play performer and second-line set-up man who would qualify for our list of five of the better bargains available in the free-agent pool come July 1.
He has good hands, scores in bunches, plays extremely well with the man advantage and knows how to get open ice for himself or find teammates who have it.
He’s also likely to accept a price cut from his just-completed salary of $3,800,000.
Which makes him a bargain and the center on our Free-Agent Bargain team.

With the salary cap expected to be just a nudge over $50 million US this season, virtually all the clubs will have more money to spend than many had expected; the league’s efforts to keep the cap around $48 million evidently meeting with ice from the NHLPA in whose best interests it is to have it rise as high as possible. Given the stagnant growth in revenue in the game of late, it’s likely to mean escrow payments in the 7 to 9 per cent range when all is said and done next year, but that is just something the players will have to live with given they themselves handed the league that hammer.

The Leafs were close to acquiring capable goalie Vesa Toskala from the San Jose Sharks this morning.
The deal will likely cost the Leafs their first-round selection (13th overall), but is conditional on whether the Leafs can sign Toskala to an extension. There could be another player moving from the Sharks for more Toronto draft picks.
Toskala, 30, will enter the final year of his contract that will pay him $1.375-million (all figures U.S.). The Finnish product made a career-high 38 appearances in 2006-07, enjoyed a 26-10- record, 2.35 goals against average and .908 save percentage.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired capable goalie Vesa Toskala from the San Jose Sharks.
The deal, which includes forward Mark Bell going to Toronto, has cost the Leafs their first-round selection (13th overall), second and fourth-round picks.